Tigers drop Red Bombers in AFL season opener

Christopher Cameron – Sports Editor The Brunswickan September 22, 2010

The UNB Red Bombers are pleased with the way they played in their season opener, but not with the result.

Taking on Dalhousie Tigers in the first game of the AFL’s second season, the Bombers came up short losing 22-19.

UNB had the victory in their clutches as they went 19-15 after a pretty reverse play that left the Dalhousie defence baffled. A defence, which held the Bombers most of the game, did not see this coming.

Quarterback Brendan Cornford took the snap handing it off to wide receiver Jeff Madsen.

After two laterals across the field, Cornford had the ball back in his hands and threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Hubbard.

Hubbard gives credit to his offensive teammates in making such a great play.

“(Cornford) made a nice throw,” said Hubbard. “We saw a breakdown in coverage and went for it and it worked out.”

The 1,200 at Chapman Field erupted in approval only to be silenced moments later.

On the kickoff, Tigers star Greg Pelly was ready to upset the fans. Pelly received the ball in the Dalhousie end zone with 6:41 remaining in the fourth quarter taking it 106 yards to the house. Aside from the roar of the Tigers team, every fan was silent as the Bombers trailed again with minimal time left. Hubbard knows Pelly’s play made a significant difference in the result of the game.

“He was electric,” said Hubbard. “That is a game changing play right there and we need to learn how to respond to that and come back stronger.”

Part of the problem the Bombers had in stopping the Dalhousie offense was the great field position on kickoff returns. Head Coach Mike Dollimore knows his kickers Zac Cann and Alden Pezerovic are skilled kickers, but this also posses a problem.

“Part of the problem with our kicking game is we have such phenomenal kickers,” said Dollimore. “If you look at it closely, Alden is outkicking his coverage by about 10-15 yards. The same thing is happening with Zach Cann. We have to be a lot more strategic because when you put the ball in the hands number (Pelly) or (James Green) and you don’t have the coverage down tight on them, they’ll start picking the angles on you. It’s great to have kickers who can boom it, but we have to be more strategic where they put the ball.”

Coming into the game the Tigers were an unknown team in the league as a new team. UNB knew they would be good, but knows they can match any team in the league, that has lots of parody.

“There is a lot of parody in the league. I mean a three-point game, back and forth, back and forth,” said Dollimore. “It was very entertaining to watch from a coaching standpoint.”

“We knew DAL would be tough. They have a tremendous coaching staff and there is a good history of football in Halifax at the high school level. We knew they would have some good solid players out there.”

Dollimore is not worried about the result. They started off last season similarly, losing their opener and eventually winning the Moosehead Cup. He knows there are a few little things that need to be worked on in order to succeed, but knows the team is ready to work on them.

“The league is very tight and we were in the same position last year,” he said. “You make a mistake and you pay for it big time. That happened to both teams. Both teams paid for it. It comes down to a three point ball game and we weren’t able to punch home our field goal in the first quarter and there’s the difference in the game.”

The Red Bombers have a bye week next weekend and will be back in action Oct. 2 against the UNBSJ Seawolves at home.

Bombers give Seawolves the boot in AFL final

By JON MACNEILL
Canadaeast News Service

SAINT JOHN – After 30 years, the University of New Brunswick Fredericton Red Bombers still know what it takes to win a championship.

Struggling against slick field conditions and outstanding defensive efforts on either side of the ball, the Red Bombers captured the first-ever Atlantic Football League championship Saturday and the Moosehead Cup with a 3-1 win over the UNB Saint John Seawolves at Millidgeville Field.

“It’s a big piece of history that we get to be a part of,” the Bombers Andrew Hubbard said.

“We had a former Red Bomber with us today and to have the traditions blending together feels great.”

The star wide receiver tallied more than 130 yards from returns and carries but it was the Bombers’ defence who put points up on the board.

As in the two regular-season encounters between the teams, the game was decided in the final frame but this time Fredericton prevailed to hand Saint John its first loss of the inaugural campaign.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Seawolves’ Tim Jackson attempted to return a punt from his end zone but fumbled it back across the line to give the Bombers a two-point safety.

With less than two minutes left in the game, Jackson was caught in the house by a swarm of Bomber defenders trying to return another punt and the Bombers took a 3-0 lead from the rouge.

Both scoring opportunities came courtesy of Alden Pezerovic’s reliable boot.

“Pezerovic kicked a phenomenal game for us,” Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore said. “Every punt he had helped us out and took the field position away from Saint John. He strategically placed it where we wanted him to and it was a direct result of his kicking game that we got the points we did.”

Points were otherwise hard to come by in a game dominated by solid defensive performances. The first three quarters were relatively uneventful, with each team struggling to sustain their offensive drives and failing to get within striking distance.

“It was tough to get the ball going today,” Seawolves head coach Dave Grandy said.

“It’s harder to click on offence and the conditions were slick out there,” added quarterback Jeremy McAulay. “But, no excuses, we just came out kind of flat and couldn’t get any momentum going and they shut us down.”

The Seawolves notched a rouge with 34 seconds left on the clock after McAulay marched the squad within range using a screen pass to Joel Seale who gained 30 yards.

John Phillips’ field goal attempt narrowly missed the uprights on the right side to make it 3-1 for the Bombers. Phillips had kicked the game-winning field goal in a 16-14 victory in September at Chapman Field.

“We played bend don’t break defence at times, especially near the end of the game,” Dollimore said. “We were trying to protect against some of their deep passes and we gave up some stuff across the middle, but we were protecting from the goal-line up.”

The single point came after McAulay fired passes to Seale and Justin Cavan who were both unable to corral the pigskin from their perch in the end zone.

“We had our opportunities near the end of the game to get what we needed and that just didn’t happen,” Grandy said. “It was there for us and we didn’t capitalize.”

Immediately before the Bombers notched their safety, Saint John’s Chris Reid recovered a fumbled punt return and ran it back for a touchdown. But the major was called back because the Seawolves had too many players on the field, drawing a chorus of disapproval from the estimated 800 fans in attendance on the overcast fall afternoon.

Dollimore said winning the championship was even more rewarding in the company of some former Red Bombers. He played and coached for the squad from 1970 to its final Atlantic Universities Athletics Association season in 1980.

“Our guys played really inspired football,” Dollimore said.